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Is the Guinness really better in Ireland?
Yesterday I wrote about the 5-minute process for pouring a perfect pint of Guinness. That fanaticism alone should be a clue to the quality of Guinness in Ireland -- any country willing to wait five minutes for its drink is a true aficionado. When I lived there, I found many Irish to be passionate and very specific about how Guinness should be drunk. Once a stranger stopped me in a pub because I was drinking a pint that hadn't fully settled -- he was that concerned about it.
I frequented a two-story pub in Galway, and another regular, an older Irish man with watery blue eyes and a red nose, would only get his pints from downstairs. "The Guinness has to travel too far up the pipes to get upstairs," he informed me. He believed that the Guinness was purest and freshest the less it has to travel.
So why is that? I did a little research, and here's what I came up with:
- The popularity of the drink in Ireland means that kegs aren't sitting around long. Therefore, the Guinness is almost always fresh -- and certainly more fresh than overseas since it doesn't have to travel as far.
- The lines are cleaner -- pub owners in Ireland are visited every three weeks by a Guinness representative who flushes the lines to Guinness kegs.
- Guinness should be served at room temperature -- an oddity to us who associate the pleasures of beer drinking with its coolness on a hot day. I've noticed that most bars in the States tend to chill their Guinness along with the rest of their beers, which definitely changes the flavor of it.
Some other theories that I had a hard time verifying: - The water at the Dublin brewery is better than the water where most Guinness brewed for export is made (in England).
- Guinness taps in Ireland are pressurized with nitrogen, while taps in the US (and elsewhere, I assume?) are pressurized with carbon dioxide.
Thanks to John Udell for some Guinness facts.
Filed under: Arts and Culture, Food and Drink, Europe, Ireland
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
Durkin Mar 23rd 2009 8:57PM
Guinness for export is also pasteurized, which largely accounts for the flavor difference. Guinness in the Republic and the U.K. (Belfast and London breweries) is not. Bottled Guinness and draught Guinness (keg, not the canned "draught") are different brews altogether, with different recipes. All of this is freely discussed at the Saint James Gate brewery, where all of the kegged Guinness for U.S. export is brewed. Bottled Guinness is now brewed in New Brunswick, Canada, for export to the U.S. This makes it slightly closer than the previous closest-to-U.S. Guinness brewery, which is in Jamaica, but does not commercially distribute to the U.S.
j. Woods May 8th 2010 8:42AM
Since you are talking technical let's start with getting the facts straight. 1, Guinness is at least 2% higher in alcohol (higher in cans and bottles) outside of Ireland as a natural preservative for the travel. So yes, freshness makes for a better tasting "Anything". 2. The perfect two part pour is 120 seconds then you wait until it is Black before drinking (finished cascading). 3. All Guinness worldwide is pushed with nitrogen, never CO2. 4. Guinness is "Never" served at room temperature! Regular Guinness is served at 42.8 degrees F and Guinness Extra Cold is to be served at 38.6 degrees F. But your article was still enjoyable. Thank you!